OK, today I learned something very important. Maybe that's interesting for other people, too.

In the past I used VST2 Plugins only. When you insert a VST2 in Cubase in the VST-Rack, you have a maximum number of 16 stereo outputs and 16 midi channels. So my first thoughts were I should only use 16 instruments per VE Pro instance.

But you also have the possibility to insert VE Pro as a VST3 Plugin. Its name is " | | | Vienna Ensemble Pro" (the three lines left of the name are the symbol for a VST3-Plugin). With VST3 you now have a maximum of 64 stereo outputs and 512 midi chanels. So you can use much more instruments per instance and however control all this instruments with one VST-Plugin in the VSt-Rack. (don't forget to press the "Preferences" button in the VE Pro Server window to define the number of audio and midi channels per instance).

Best regards,

Peter

 Hmm. I typed a detailed post about this issue, but it seems to have disappeared.

Anyway, I agree that there is an 8 VE instance limit per server. Which limits you to 4096 MIDI tracks and 512 VSTi Outputs per server.

However, this is not the case for anyone using AU, because due to the cr*p spec that Apple has kindly provided, you can only get 128 MIDI tracks and 128 Outputs (AFAIK), so for Logic customers i can see this possibly being an issue, particularly as not all users are using up to date sample players like Vienna instruments, and are still using the old fashioned ones that require a separate track for each articulation. Boy, i certainly don't miss those days. [6]

DG

"I typed a detailed post about this issue...." I wish I could have read it. Is it possible it loaded into another thread? I still don't remember if, by accident, I put this thread in the MIR forum, but I never go to MIR, so I cant imagine I did. The forum behavior has been a little flaky lately. I have learned the hard way to copy my posts before they're sent. 

Please understand that I know I can get an obscene amount of tracks from and memory within one VE instance. The line I am trying to draw is to keep Flute Matrices in a Flute VE, Oboe matrices in an Oboe VE, et cetera, allowing for the principal instruments in a standard orchestra.

I am hoping I don't need to go the Winds / Brass / Percussion / Strings grouping by virtue of a limit to eight instances (or any mixture thereof for individual and grouped VE's, topping at eight). And I note with concern that the manual's examples are grouped this way. 

Thanks for your confirmations. My next step tomorrow will be to see if, when I double click the VE Ensemble in the channel strip and do the "Show Window" dance, I will see the display by MIDI port, or if I'll need to scroll down sixteen instruments or manually select the MIDI port to find what patch I'm triggering. 

If I immediately see what I'm playing, then 8 instances is tolerable. I don't care what instance it is, if I can see what I'm playing when the VE edit screens open directly. If I have to play with MIDI ports to obviate the eight instance limit, so be it.  

But if I have to hunt down whichever of, say, 128 instruments I might be playing in that one compendium of a Winds VE Pro instance, sorting through flutes, then oboes to clarinets, finally discovering the Bassoon DYN 2s that the channel stip is actually playing.... then the template I had imagined will simply not be tenable. That is not a real-world layout. 

I will trust for better from VSL. I just can't explain why VSL didn't just tell us about the limit. 

@plowman said:

But if I have to hunt down whichever of, say, 128 instruments I might be playing in that one compendium of a Winds VE Pro instance, sorting through flutes, then oboes to clarinets, finally discovering the Bassoon DYN 2s that the channel stip is actually playing.... then the template I had imagined will simply not be tenable. That is not a real-world layout. 

I don't know why you would say that it is not a real world limit. In the real world you never have 128 Woodwind instruments. [;)]

I have no problem putting all my Woods in One instance with VE2 though, although it would get a bit tight should I want to add many other things like Alto Flute.

However, even with every possible instrument in the Woods playing I can't use More than about 20 MIDI channels. How on earth are you getting to 128 Instruments? That's the size of my complete VSL template, and I often have 2 Vienna Instruments for each orchestral instrument. Maybe there is a better way of working that you haven't tried yet?

DG

@skatz said:

This definitely seems like an unfortunate limitation for myself and MANY of the DP and Logic composers I know here in LA. One workaround would be to use instrument banks (for Kontakt) at least, and then send patch changes from the sequencer. That said, I wonder about the possibility of having VE instances create virtual MIDI ports, like Plogue Bidule does (and several other pieces of software for that matter). It wouldn't solve the issue of audio limitations, but it would allow you to access more instruments. Just a thought.

The real limitation is the AU spec, so you'll have to hassle Apple about that.

DG

I am talking about a MIDI orchestrator's real world. In the REAL real world, we would give it to a human being and say, "Play this." That world does not apply in this thread. 

The "Why would you want so many...." notes keep coming. For the love of all things Vienna, I can load fifteen and three-quarters BILLION instruments into this interface. I got it. I so freaking got it. I can load more instruments in VE PRO that there are hungry mouths to feed on this fallen planet. When Carl Sagan was asked how many galaxies are in this universe, he said, "About as many as Plowman can load instruments on his VE PRO." And I've still got 12 GB left over. 

I'm going to start another thread. I think I'm beginning to see that the issue is local hosting without access to Virtual MIDI ports, as suggested by Skatz.  I welcome all feedback. Thanks DG and others for hanging in there.  

Thanks Dietz. I get it now. VE PRO is considered more of a mixing venue. You might consider adding VE PRO to the topic title "MIR, Vienna Suite." I know you're trying to keep it simple, which is hard because VSL programs overlap each other. 

@DG said:

However, this is not the case for anyone using AU, because due to the cr*p spec that Apple has kindly provided, you can only get 128 MIDI tracks and 128 Outputs

Where are you seeing this limitation?  I am not aware of any such limit.  Logic Express does have track limitations (255) but Logic Pro does not.

It's the actual limit of MIDI channels and VE Pro instances.  You can have 8 VE Pro instances per machine and each can have 16 MIDI channels, therefore 8*16=128.

Okay, I'm realizing that what I'm realizing is real. Thanks timkiel. I just started another thread, if anyone wants to discuss this limit within Logic vis-a-vis VE PRO local hosting. 

All VSL had to do was put a simple sentence in the manual or on their website: Up to 128 channels for local hosting. And if it was anywhere, my apologies for missing it. 

OK, what am I doing wrong?  I just created 22 instances of VE Pro (11 in a 32-bit server and 11 in a 64- bit server). I stopped adding instances out of boredom, not because I ran into some limitation. All on a single machine.

http://homepage.mac.com/dbudde/.Music/instances.png

Are all those instances connected?  I can create more than 8 on the 32 bit server, but I as others can actually only connect to 8 of them inside Logic.

OK.  I have 16 connected in Logic.  8 from each server.

@DG said:

However, this is not the case for anyone using AU, because due to the cr*p spec that Apple has kindly provided, you can only get 128 MIDI tracks and 128 Outputs

Where are you seeing this limitation?  I am not aware of any such limit.  Logic Express does have track limitations (255) but Logic Pro does not.

 You haven't noticed, that's all. [;)]

It has nothing to do with number of tracks. With AU you can only get 16 MIDI channels per instance. With VST3 you can get many, many more.

DG

@dbudde said:

OK.  I have 16 connected in Logic.  8 from each server.

Hadn't tried that.  So the limit on a single machine running OSX it 256 which I would have thought is plenty for all.... although that said you only get 3GB for the 32bit VEP instance to play with.... 

@timkiel said:

Hadn't tried that.  So the limit on a single machine running OSX it 256 which I would have thought is plenty for all.... although that said you only get 3GB for the 32bit VEP instance to play with.... 

At one point some time ago (I believe with some version of the original Vienna Ensemble), it was posible to create a duplcate copy of the application and rename it so you could run multiple instances of it to get around the instance limitation.  That doesn't seem to work with VE Pro.    I don't know if it still works with the old VE.